Mail-bag catcher and deliverer.



No. 866,411. PATENTED SEPT. 17, 1907. A. D. WALTON & O. H. ANTHONY.

MAIL BAG GATCHER AND DELIVBRER.

APPLICATION FILED JUL Y5. 1907.

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MAIL BAG GATOHBR AND DELIVBRBR. APPLICATION FILED Jun 5. 1907.

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APPLICATION FILED JULY 5. 1907.

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UNITED srarnsj rnNr OFFICE.

ARTHUR DEAN WALTON AND CHARLES HENRY ANTHONY, OF ST. JAMES, MISSOURI.

MAIL-BAG CATGHER AND DELIVERER.

Specification of Letters Pateiitj;

Patented Sept. 17, 1907.

' Application filed J uly'5,19(]7. Serial No. 382,263-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR DEAN WALTON and CHARLES HENRY ANTHONY, both citizens of the United States, and residents of St. James, in the county of 'Phelps and State of Missouri, have invented a new and Improved Mail-Bag Catcher and Deliverer, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to mail bagcatchers such as used for passing the mail bags to and from express trains as they pass post-offices located on the railway line.

The object of the invention is to produce a device of this kind which is simple in construction and reliable in operation.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts to be more fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters oi reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation showing the operation of the device in practice; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, illustrating the device in operation, and showing the body of the railway mail car in cross section; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3, extended, of Fig. 1, a portion of the car body being shown in cross section and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 44 of Fig. 1, and especially illustrating the means for holding the catcher carried by the train in its differentpositions.

Referring more particularly to the parts, 1 represents the mail car, which is provided with the usual metal door 2 in which there is mounted a rotatable vertical post 3. At a suitable height this post 3 is pro vided with a rigid collar 4, and above this collar I provide a bag catcher 5. This bag catcher 5 is of symmetrical form, as shown, presenting two forwardly projecting slightly curved or inwardly bowed arms 6 which terminate in darts or points 7. These arms extend forwardly from a substantially rectangular body 8, which presents rearwardly extending forks or holders 9. These holders are parallel as shown, and present notches 10 on their inner sides near their extremities. Beyond these notches inclined or curved edges 11 are formed, and opposite these edges 11 spring jaws 12 are formed, which are at the extremities of springs 13, said springs being attached to the inner sides of the arms or holders 9 at the inner ends thereof, as indicated.

The bag catcher is attached to the post 3 by a horizontal pivot bolt or stud 14 which passes through an enlarged ear 15 which is disposed between the arms 6. This ear projects laterally from the side of the catcher, as indicated most clearly in Fig. 2, and presents parallel side faces 16, either of which may rest upon the upper face of the collar 4 so as to support the catcher in the position shown in Fig. l, or in a reverse position.

The post 3 is mounted at its lower end in a bracket 17 which projects from the do'or sill as shown in Fig. 4. At its foot the post is provided with a rigid collar 18 having slightly separated teeth 19 thereupon. In the upper face of the bracket near the collar 18, a catch 20 is pivoted, and this catch is adapted to engage between the teeth of the collar as illustrated, being held in this position by a small helical spring 21. The catch 20 is provided with an outwardly projecting finger 22 which can be pressed by the mail clerks foot so as to release the catch when desired. With this arrangement, it is evident that the bag catcher may be locked in any position such as that illustrated in Fig. 1. And, furthermore, when the catch 20 is released, the post may be swung around so as to bring the bag into the car, as illustrated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Near the track we provide a fixed post 23, which is set upon a base 24 having the usual steps to enable the postmaster to hang the mail bag in position.- At the upper end of the post 23 the bag catcher 25 is mounted, and this bag catcher is similar in construction to the bag catcher 5 already described. It is attached by means of a pivot bolt 26 to the upper end of the post, and near its point of attachment the post is provided with an outwardly projecting shelf or rest 27. The bag catcher 25 is provided with an ear 28 by means of which it is attached to the pivot bolt 26, and the side faces of this ear are adapted to bear upon the rest 27 so as to hold the bag catcher in the position shown in Fig. l, or in a reverse position. When in the position shown in Fig. 1, the bag catcher 25 presents its arms 29 toward the catcher 5 of the approaching train. These arms are similar in form to the arms 6 described above, and on the side toward which the train is proceeding the bag catcher 25 presents its rearwardly extending arms or bag holders 30, which are similar to the arms 9 described above. The mail bag 31 which is carried by the train, is hung upon the lower arm or holder 9 in the notch or recess 10. For this purpose, it is provided with an elongated bail 32. The mail bag 33 which is supported by the post 23, is attached in a similar manner, to the lower arm 30 of the bag catcher 25 by means of its bail 34. As the train passes the post 23, the lower arm 6 passes through the bail 34 and pulls it from its position on the holder 30. At the same time, the lower arm 29 of the bag catcher at the post 23,

catcher on the train. As soon as the bag has been caught by the bag catcher on the train, the mail clerk releases the catcher 20 and rotates the post 3 so as to iently removed. A

bring the bag into the car where it can be convenpasses through the bail 32 and removes it from the bag Special attention is called to the form of the darts 7 at the ends of the arms 6 and 29. These darts are provided with rearwardly projecting spurs 35 which constitute hooks and prevent the accidental removal of the bag after it has been caught.

In order to hold the bag 33 in position its lower edge is provided with rings 36. When the bag is hung up as indicated in Fig. 1, one of these rings is attached to a chain 37 by means of a snap-hook 38, said chain being anchored to the face of the platform. A duplicate chain 39 is provided at the other side of the platform to be used when the bag holder is in its reversed position. The chain holds the bag steady.

If desired, two bags can be hung upon the holder at once and can be as readily caught or delivered as one bag.

The fact that both the bag catchers are reversible, enables them to operate with trains passing in either direction.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A mail bag catcher having a pair of forward arms and a pair of rear arms constituting bag holders, and

means for mounting said catcher on a pivoted support disposed on the axis thereof whereby said bag catcher becomes reversible.

2 A mail bag catcher comprising a support having a lateral projection, a reversible body pivotally attached to said support and adapted to engage said projection in reversed positions, said body having a pair of forwardly projecting arms adapted to take the bag, and having a pair of rearwardly projecting arms adapted to hold the bag to be taken'.

3. A mail bag catcher comprising a-post having a projection on the side face thereof, a reversible body having an ear attached pivotally to said post and above said projection, said body having forwardly projecting hooked arms adapted to take the bag from a support, and rearwardly projecting arms adapted to hold the bag.

4. A mail bag catcher, having a reversible body having a pivot supporting the same, having forwardly projecting arms disposed on opposite sides of the axis of said pivot, and rearwardly projecting parallel arms at the rear of said body having notches and retaining springs on their.

inner sides constituting holders for the bag.

In testimony whereof We have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR DEAN WAI/ITON. CHARLES HENRY ANTHONY.

Witnesses:

RoB'r. C. CARPENTER, J. F. BEAN. 

